Bottle dispensing apparatus



Patented Oct. 28, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BOTTLE DISPENSING APPARATUS August Carlson, Kansas City, Mo.

Application November 6, 1944, Serial No. 562,111

the arrangement or storage of the articles (such as bottles) to be vended, within the machine, and also as regards the mechanism for vending, or dispensing, the said articles from the machine in the vending operation.

Accordingly, one feature of the improved construction is the provision of a container or magazine structure in which the bottles or the like are stored in horizontal position and in vertical stacks in a plurality of compartments, all arranged in a single vertical plane, and from which compartments the bottles are successively ex,- tracted and removed by means of vending or dispensing mechanism at the bottom of said magazine structure, and delivered to the exterior of the apparatus.

Another important feature of the invention is a novel and efiicient. type of vending or dispensing mechanism, of a type adapted for coin-control, which operates to successively discharge the contents of one of said bottle compartments until the same is empty, and thereafter shifts the dispensing operation to another, or an adjoining bottle compartment in the same plane, and thereafter continues the same dispensing operation until the contents of all the bottle compartments of the machine have been exhausted.

It is further sought to provide a construction of the character described which is especially well adapted for the refrigeration of the goods to be vended, and in which the supply of the goods or merchandise may be readily and conveniently renewed, as required.

Claims. (01. 3121- 185 It is moreover sought to devise an improved construction of efiicient design which is adapted for economical production, and which may also be readily assembled and installed in complete operative relation in the finished apparatus.

With the foregoing general objects in view the invention will now be described by reference to the accompanying drawings, illustrating one form of embodiment of the proposed features of .im- I provement, after which those features and combinations deemed to be both novel and patentable will be particularly set forth and claimed.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view illustrating a vending apparatus construction embodying the present features of improvement and designed for the dispensing of bottles goods; and

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the same, representing an irregular section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the invention is illustrated as embodied in an apparatus adapted for the vending of soft drinks of the character sold in bottles which-are kept in a refrigerated state and Vended from the machine by means of dispensing mechanism adapted to be operated in response to coin-controlled means of any practical type adapted for the control of the vending operation.

The present improved construction is in the nature or improvements upon the subject matter of. my copendingapplication Ser. No. 486,281 filed May 10, 1943, which matured into Patent No. 2,424,303, on July 22, 1947, in that the construction and operation are herein adapted to accommodate stacks of bottles arranged in adjoining parallel and coplanar relation instead of in radial relation about a central vertical axis as in said copending application.

Accordingly, the improved vending or dispensing apparatus is illustrated as comprising a cabinet l2 constructed with appropriate insulation material H! and having a front panel or door l5 hinged at I6 and affording access to the main interior space I! of the cabinet for the purpose of installing and servicing the bottle supply and mechanism as hereinafter described.

The means for maintaining a supply of bottles containing the beverage to be vended comprises a plurality of compartments 20 arranged side by side and: formed by a plurality of parallel partitions 22 in the upper portion of the cabinet-l2 and arranged in spaced relation from one side wall to the other side wall of the cabinet. The width of each of said compartments 20 is approximately that of the diameter ofv the bottles 24 to be stored therein in vertically stacked relation as represented in Figure 1; and the lower ends of said compartments are open and provided with discharge outlets formed by bottom extensions 22' all turned inwardly into radial relation about a common center represented by a horipart of the vending or dispensing mechanism presently to be described. The rear end of the shaft 26 is journaled in a bearing element 29 secured to the rear wall of the cabinet l2, as shown in Figure 2.

The radial relationship of the lower or discharge ends of the bottle compartments 20 is designed to establish the necessary feed relation between the several compartments and a bottle carrier member comprising a drum or wheel 30 having a, central hub portion 33 mounted for rotary movement by means of suitable bearings 3| supported by the shaft 26. This carrier Wheel, or drum, is provided with a plurality of circumferential bottle receiving openings or recesses 32 which are adapted to be brought into register with the lower discharge ends of the respective bottle compartments 20.

Keyed fast to the rear end of the shaft 26, as shown in Figure 2, is a closure member comprising a hollow cylindrical segment 38 of a size adapted to enclose a portion of the periphery and rear'side of the carrier drum or Wheel 30 and thereby function as a closure for the bottom discharge outlets of the bottle compartments 26. As shown in Figure 1, the extent of the peripheral portion of the segment 38 is such as to serve as a closure for all but one of the bottle compartments when in its maximum closure relation, or at the beginning of the vending operation, at which time the discharge outlet of one of the bottle compartments is in communicating or bottle-feeding relation to the bottle carrier member 30.

The drive mechanism necessary for imparting operative movement to the carrier member 39 and closure member 38, as required for the vending operation, is in the form of a gear mechanism very similar to that illustrated in the aforesaid copending application. This drive mechanism comprises a gear wheel 43 keyed to one end of the shaft 25 and adapted to be actuated by a drive wheel 45 secured to a drive shaft 41 and provided with a pin or roller 48 for engagement with marginal recesses 44 formed on the periphery of the wheel 43 (see Figure 1), and imparting thereto a partial rotation for each complete rotation of the drive wheel 45. The shaft 41 is designed to be driven by any conventional type of motor 50 and the operation controlled by conventional coin-controlled mechanism (not illustrated) for producing a partial turn of said shaft, sufficient to efiect the discharge of just one bottle into the discharge chute 52 for each operation of .said coin-controlled mechanism.

The shaft 41 is designed to operate a, gear 62 which meshes with a pinion 63 carried by a spindle 64 mounted in a bearing 65 carried by the frame part 28. The pinion 63 in turn meshes with a gear wheel 61 which is secured fast to the 3f! are rotated in opposite directions (as indicated by the arrows in Figure 1), but that the bottle carrier moves once for each bottle dispensing operation while said closure member 38 moves only in unison with one of the dispensing opera tions for each compartment; or, that is to say,

"only as often as required for opening each suc- 'ceeding bottle compartment into communication 4 with the bottle carrier member 30. Thus, each movement of the closure member 38 takes place as the bottle carrier member is receiving the next to the last bottle from any one of the compartments 29, in order to secure a continuous vending operation from the successive compartments.

The operation of the apparatus, after filling of the several compartments 20 with the stacks of bottles 24, is in general the same as that characterizing the apparatus described in the aforesaid pending application. Assuming that the operation starts with the closure member 38 in its initial closure position illustrated in Figure 1, in

which position it forms a closure for all the bottle compartments excepting the one at the extreme right in said Figure 1, then a bottle from said compartment at the extreme right will have rolled down through the opening 40 into the adjacent recess 32 of the bottle carrier; consequently in the first operation of the bottle dispensing means the drive from the motor will operate through the gears 62, 63 and 6'! to rotate the bottle carrier the angular distance required for lowering the bottle in said recess 32 into position opposite the chute 52 where it is free to automatically roll by gravity down said chute into delivery position, at the door 53.

At the same time, the gear wheel 45 will be given a slight partial turn; but, as the ratio of the gearing is such that this wheel makes a complete rotation only once during the time necessary to discharge all the bottles from one compartment, no movement is imparted to the. gear 43 (through the medium of the stud 48 and recesses 44) except once for each complete revolution of the Wheel 45 and then only to the extent necessary to rotate the closure member 38 and shift its opening 40 sufliciently to open up the next adjoining bottle compartment into bottle-feeding relation to the carrier member 30.

Consequently, successive operations of the dispensing mechanism first dispenses all the bottles from a given compartment 293, and the closure member 38 is automatically shifted by means of the gearing 4345 to start the dispensing of the bottles from the next adjoining bottle compartment in time to avoid any interruption of the feed of the bottles to the bottle carrier member. As before indicated, the intermittent movements of the closure member are timed to take place as the next to the last bottle is being transferred to the carrier member from the next preceding bottle compartment.

Since the emptying of all the compartments still leaves the recesses 32 in the upper half of the carrier member loaded with bottles, the dispensing operation will continue in the same intermittent manner until the remaining bottles are all discharged, one by one, at the discharge chute 52. a

It Will therefore be apparent that I have devised a practical and efficient arrangement and construction adapted to meet the desired objects of the invention, and embodying an apparatus in which the bottle compartments are all arranged in substantially coplanar relation and feeding to dispensing means operating about a horizontal axis. Moreover, in addition to being of a character adapted for efiective refrigerating action, it will be noted that the improved construction retains theadvantage of not requiring the bottle magazine structure to participate in the movements of the dispensing operation, since only the carrier and the closure members are involved in said dispensing action and the closure member is required to operate only at intervals, in the shifting of the dispensing operation from one to another of the bottle compartments. The improved construction further retains the advantages of accessibility of all the parts from the front of the cabinet, thereby facilitating all necessary repair and refilling operations.

While I have illustrated and described what I now regard as a practical and desirable embodiment of my proposed improvements, I desire to be understood as expressly reserving the right to make all changes and modifications which may fairly fall within the spirit and scope of my invention as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Article dispensing apparatus of the character described having an article discharge outlet and comprising: a series of fixed vertically extending article compartments open at the bottom and arranged side by side in substantially vertical coplanar relation, a drum-shaped carrier member having article receiving recesses for receiving the articles one by one from said compartments and rotatable in a single direction for conveying the articles to said discharge outlet, a hollow cylindrical closure segment mounted coaxially with said carrier member for intercepting co r-- munication between said compartments and said carrier member and having a closure edge portion movable into unclosing relation with the lower outlet ends of said compartments successively for allowing communication between said compartments and said carrier member, and means operating automatically and in timed relation with said carrier member for shifting said closure member step by step into different closure relations to said carrier member as said article compartments are emptied.

2. Article dispensing apparatus of the character described having an article discharge outlet and comprising: a series of fixed vertically ex tending article compartments open at the bottom and arranged side by side in substantially coplanar relation with their bottom ends forming an upwardly arched series of discharge openings, an arcuate closure member having an unclosing edge portion movable across said openings to control the discharge of articles from the respective compartments, article dispensing means rotatable in a single direction about a horizontal axis to receive the articles one by one from said compartments and convey the same to said discharge outlet, and driving means for continuously operating said dispensing meansv and provided with positive drive connections to said closure member for intermittently actuating the latter in timed relation with said dispensing means to shift said closure member into position for establishing communication between said dispensing means and the several article compartments, in succession, as said compartments are emptied.

3. Article dispensing apparatus of the character described having an article discharge outlet and comprising: a container structure having a plurality of vertically extending article compartments arranged side by side in fixed and substantially vertical coplanar relation, said compartments having open outlet portions extending radially with reference to a common horizontal aXis, dispensing means operating rotatably in a single direction about said horizontal axis for receiving the articles one by one from said outlet portions and conveying the same to said article discharge outlet, a closure member mounted for movement between said dispensing means and outlet portions of the compartments and having an edge portion for controlling the discharge from said outlet portions and driving means for operating said dispensing means and provided with positive drive connections to said closure member for cooperatively shifting said closure member into position for establishing communication successively between said dispensing means and the several article compartments as said compartments are emptied.

4. Article dispensing apparatus of the character described having an article discharge outlet and comprising: a series of fixed vertically extending article compartments open at the bottom and arranged side by side in substantially vertical coplanar relation, a rotatable closure member movable in a single direction and having an edge portion operative to control the discharge of articles from the respective compartments, rotatable article dispensing means operative about the same axis as said closure member for receiving the articles one by one from said compartments and conveying the same to said discharge outlet, and driving means for continuously operating said dispensing means and provided with positive drive connections to said closure member for intermittently actuating the latter in timed relation with said dispensing means to shift said closure member into position for establishing communication successively between said dispensing means and the several article compartments as said compartments are emptied.

5. Article dispensing apparatus of the character described having an article discharge outlet and comprising: a container structure having a plurality of vertically extending article compartments arranged side by side in fixed substantially vertical coplanar relation, said compartments having open outlet portions extending radially with reference to a common horizontal axis, rotary dispensing means operating in a single direction about said horizontal axis for receiving the articles one by one from said outlet portions and conveying the same to said article discharge outlet, a rotatable closure member mounted coaxially with said dispensing means for movement between said dispensing means and outlet portions of the compartments and having an edge portion for controlling the discharge from said outlet portions, and driving means for operating said dispensing means and provided with positive drive connections to said closure member for cooperatively shifting said closure member to locate said edge portion into position for establishing communication successively between said dispensing means and the several article compartments as said compartments are emptied.

- AUGUST CARLSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

